Heilung - Norupo

Key Facts

Country: 🇩🇪/🇩🇰/🇳🇴

Genre: Experimental Folk (the band call it Amplified History)

Release Date: 3rd April 2019

Record Label(s): Season Of The Mist

UK Singles Chart Position: N/A

Album Release Date: 28th June 2019

Band Members:

Kai Uwe Faust

Maria Franz

Christopher Juul

Bandcamp Link:

Review:

Rating (out of 5🤘): 🤘🤘🤘🤘

Another brand of folk music that never fails to inspire me, along the lines of Wardruna but with a more Central European Germanic twist, Heilung are back with a primal Viking sounding single and I couldn't be more excited for the new album! 

The band stated what Norupo was all about:

"Norupo is based on the poem known as “the Norwegian rune poem”. The poem was preserved in a 17th-century copy of a now lost 13th-century manuscript. The Norwegian rune poem gives a complete description of all sixteen runes of the younger Futhark, also commonly known as the "Viking runes". These runes are also the foundation for the artwork of "Futha"."

Whilst production wise it's a lot more intimate compared to their previous songs which follow the more Wardruna recipe for production, Norupo still conjures up primal and ancient imagery of our ancestors and the sacred world they lived in. A world ruled by the gods and tied together with fate. After watching the Lifa performance on YouTube, I believe the Heilung correctly and accurately recreate the shamanic looking outfits and the instrumental sounds of those ancient times, everything is meticulously authentic and I love it. Norupo, shows a lot more of the bands melodic talents with a gentle beat in the background to support it. The layered vocals create an eerie but strangely calming and warm atmosphere, whilst taking us on a seemingly spiritual journey through the younger Futhark runes. 

I love musical living history projects like this and I appreciate the time it takes to create such beautiful and thought provoking music, so the release of Norupo, was quite a surprise but a very much welcome one! Not very often do an artist's songs hack into my imagination's psyche like Heilung's. Norupo, was no different, instantly my brain engaged on adventure and I was swept away by the beautiful atmospherics. You can't really put into words how these types of songs effect you so I think it's best you experience them for yourselves, go check out Heilung and get yourself ready for the 28th June!

LIFA - Full Performance